Locally, many remember "Old Cape Cod" as the song that helped shape region's image as a summer paradise, long before tourists jammed the roads and blanketed its beaches.

"That song totally, totally branded Cape Cod even before the Kennedys got here," Northcross said. "It drove a lot of traffic here with people who wanted to see if the song was true."

However, Page had never even visited the peninsula when she recorded "Old Cape Cod."

Page created a distinctive sound for the music industry in 1947 by overdubbing her own voice when she didn't have enough money to hire backup singers for the single "Confess." She went on to sell 15 gold records and three gold albums with 24 songs in the top 10, including four that reached No. 1.

She was popular in pop music and country and became the first singer to have television programs on all three major networks, including "The Patti Page Show" on ABC.

In 1999, after 51 years of performing, Page won her first Grammy for traditional pop vocal performance for "Live at Carnegie Hall — The 50th Anniversary Concert." Page was planning to attend a special ceremony on Feb. 9 in Los Angeles where she was to receive a lifetime achievement award from The Recording Academy.

Page was born Nov. 8, 1927, as Clara Ann Fowler in Claremore, Okla. The family of three boys and eight girls moved a few years later to nearby Tulsa.

She got her stage name working at radio station KTUL, which had a 15-minute program sponsored by Page Milk Co. The regular Patti Page singer left and was replaced by Page, who took the name with her on the road to stardom.

That stardom was fueled by, among other hits, "Old Cape Cod."

The song, which spent 17 weeks on Billboard's top 100 chart, is remembered as so iconic of the region that in 2010 the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce invited Page to the Cape to honor her by renaming the street by its Hyannis office after her.

The staying power of the song even went beyond the region, Golden, the DJ, said. He recalled a Page concert a few years ago at Carnegie Hall in New York City, where Page sang the song to a packed house who were, in turn, reciting it along with the singer.

"What a magical moment. Patti Page, the 'Singing Rage' at Carnegie Hall in the 21st century singing 'Old Cape Cod,' and the audience knew all the words," he said.